Ford to Boost Summer Production By Cutting Downtime

Shorter Plant Closures to Boost Volume By 40,000 Vehicles

High demand for its products is prompting Ford to cut the closure time for several of its key assembly plants from two weeks to one. The company is predicting the shortened closure schedule will increase unit output by up to 40,000 vehicles.

Among the plants affected are Chicago Assembly, which produces the Explorer and Taurus, Dearborn Truck, which is one of the primarily plants for the F-150, Kentucky Truck, which produces the Super Duty, Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition, Louisville Assembly, home of the new 2013 Ford Escape, and Kansas City Assembly, where the new Transit full-size van will be produced for the North American market.

In addition to the vehicle assembly plant closures, several key engine and drivetrain plants will also follow the shortened closure schedule. Among them are Cleveland engine plant No. 1, which produces the 3.5-liter EcoBoost for the F-150, as well as the naturally-aspirated base 3.7-liter V-6, Lima Engine, which produces the naturally-aspirated 3.5 and 3.7-liter V-6 engines for transverse applications, Essex (Ontario), which produces the 5.0-liter V-8 engine for the Mustang and F-150.
The shortened closure schedule is part of the company’s overall plan to increase annual vehicle capacity by 400,000 units.